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Chaos in Harare
Thelma Chikwanha, Daily News
May 30, 2011

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/news/53-top-story/2748-chaos-in-harare.html

The high-density suburbs of Glen View and Mbare resembled war zones at the weekend, as mounting political violence resulted in the death of a policeman.

Confirming the death of one of their members last night, police apportioned the blame for this tragedy on MDC youths - alleging that the deceased officer had died on admission to Harare General Hospital after he had been stoned and beaten by a chair by the former opposition party's youths.

Police spokesman for Harare province, Superintendent Andrew Phiri, said the MDC youths had earlier been dispersed in Glen View 4 where they were allegedly holding an unsanctioned meeting, only to regroup at Glen View 3 shopping centre where the violence occurred.

The death had occurred when police tried to disburse the unsanctioned gathering, Phiri said. He refused to disclose the name of the deceased policeman, as his next of kin had not yet been informed.

On their part, the MDC said ordinary members of the public, and not its party activists, had been involved in the fatal skirmish with police.

MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said: "We deny that the policeman was assaulted by members of the MDC. From preliminary reports, police had a misunderstanding with members of the public at a bar which irritated members of the public. It has nothing to do with the MDC".

However, eyewitnesses who spoke to the Daily News last night said Glen View MDC youths, who were coming from a peaceful meeting, were confronted by police near a bar. The police tried to disperse them, angering the youths, and this had allegedly resulted in the deadly fight.

One of the eyewitnesses who spoke to the newspaper said some youths from the MDC were in a bar at Glen View 3, after attending the peaceful meeting when policemen bolted in and ordered the patrons to disperse.

"The police accused the people of holding a public gathering without permission and started dispersing the people, resulting in the people retaliating.

"One of the policemen was severely beaten and there were a lot of people who joined in the beating, including vendors and other people. There was total mayhem in the bar and outside," he said, refusing to disclose his name for fear of being targeted.

The Glen View clashes came as fresh reports of violence were being reported in Mbare, where Zanu PF militia have declared the area a no-go zone for MDC supporters.

It emerged last night that dozens of suspected MDC supporters had been displaced at the weekend by the rampaging Zanu PF vigilantes - and were now homeless.

A Mbare resident said the situation in the township was "like a script out of the South African movie Jerusarema" - where gangsters took over a city and became landlords who ruled over their tenants through violence and fear, with impunity.

The Zanu PF vigilantes were allegedly being led by a well-known activist and council employee known as Chirwa. They had taken over council houses in the suburb.

Chirwa, apparently a mortuary attendant, who was said to be acting under the instruction of a top Zanu PF official in the province, was going around the suburb evicting residents who were suspected to be supporters of the MDC - to make way for Zanu PF members.

When a Daily News crew arrived at house number 21C, 24th Street in Joburg lines, a tenant's household goods and clothes had been thrown outside the house.

The tenant, who also refused to be identified for fear of further reprisals, said he had gone to the police to seek redress but was told to go back and reclaim his property as they could not do anything for him.

"My mother died last month and then they came and ordered my family out. My sister-in-law, who has a new baby, had to spend the night outside in the cold," the aggrieved man said.

Police confirmed receiving reports of the mayhem. They claimed that the cases were being investigated.

Other Mbare residents who spoke to the Daily News, and also preferred anonymity for fear of victimization, said they were now living in fear of being evicted.

"Please help us to have our case heard, we are now living in fear because we do not know when next Chirwa will come knocking on our doors demanding that we leave our homes.

"Mbare is not a very nice place to live in. We live here because we are poor. We have nothing save for these homes that were left to us by our parents," bemoaned one woman who identified herself only as Sekai.

Sekai, who is of Malawian decent, said she was living in "mortal fear" of Zanu PF activists.

Another resident, who also refused to be identified, said he got the shock of his life when he got home from work to find the door of his house ajar - and saw a strange woman coming out of the door.

He discovered that his entire property had been removed from the house without any notice of eviction from the local authorities.

Most of the evicted tenants said while they had made formal complaints to the police, these complaints had fallen on deaf ears.

Senator Morgan Femai confirmed the evictions, harassment and intimidation of residents by Zanu PF activists.

"The violence never stopped. People are still being beaten up. Just yesterday (Saturday), people were forced to close down their market stalls to attend a Zanu PF meeting at Mai Musodzi Hall," Femai said.

The Harare Residents Trust expressed concern last night about the displacements.

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